Virtual Field Trip – Dynamic Soil Properties at a Paired Watershed Study

Colby J Moorberg

12 Virtual Field Trip – Dynamic Soil Properties at a Paired Watershed Study

Learning Objectives

By the end of this laboratory you will:

Define “dynamic soil properties”
Observe the methods being used to study dynamic soil properties at the Clay Center paired watershed study

Materials

For this lab you will only need your device, an internet connection, and the virtual tour YouTube video.

Introduction

Dynamic soil properties are soil properties that can change based on soil management. The following video provides an overview of dynamic soil properties within the context of soil health from Dr. Skye Wills, Soil Scientist with the USDA-NRCS.

This first video provides a definition of “dynamic soil properties” and discusses the relevance to soil management practices and soil mapping.

Virtual Tour Videos

This virtual tour features Tom Roth, a retired State Agronomist with the USDA-NRCS in Kansas. Tom now consults with the USDA-NRCS on a paired watershed study being used to monitor dynamic soil properties near Clay Center, Kansas. The following is a two-part video tour of that experiment.

Discussion

After watching this video you will be participating in either part of either an in-class discussion or an online discussion through your learning management system. Please contribute to that discussion by responding to the questions listed below.

Questions

Identify at least three dynamic soil properties mentioned in the video.
Provide a definition for each property identified above and explain how different management decisions may change that property over time.
Summarize why phosphorus was important to the watershed where this study site is located.
What was one thing that surprised you as you watched this virtual tour?

References

Moorberg, Colby. 2022. Dynamic Soil Properties – Paired Watershed Study Tour, Part I. Clay Center, Kansas: ColbyDigsSoil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_WqrZoIeI4.

Moorberg, Colby. 2022. Dynamic Soil Properties – Paired Watershed Study Tour, Part II. Clay Center, Kansas: ColbyDigsSoil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nReRcqiDfBs.

USDA-NRCS. 2015. The Science of Soil Health: Dynamic Soil Properties. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZLde2famp8.

License

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Soil and Water Conservation Laboratory Manual Copyright © by Colby J. Moorberg is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.